


I See Her Face Glowing In The Darkness (In Her Own Angel Way)

by The_Consulting_Werewolf



Series: Password Subject to Change [4]
Category: EXO (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), VIXX, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 06:52:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9167071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Consulting_Werewolf/pseuds/The_Consulting_Werewolf
Summary: Joohyun thinks she brought a stray home, only to get the biggest shock of her life the next day.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I convinced myself Vrene is a cute af ship after accidentally watching too many Vrene fancams (FML)

In the dark alley outside the club, a large tabby cat with grey stripes stalks the shadows. He watches the tall vampire entering after this human left, stomping in a rage. He realises that humans are not allowed to enter, and you need a password. But then the werecat arrives and he melts further into the shadows for fear of being recognised. If he blows his cover now, he will never be able to show his face to his sister.

After hanging around for a while (and chasing a large rat down by a dumpster), his attention is stolen by a woman walking down the curb, heading towards the club. He edges closer when he sees her face glow in the darkness. He wonders what kind of a creature she is, to look so beautiful and resplendent attired only in a pair of ripped jeans and a black sweatshirt. He risks getting closer, feeling terribly attracted to her in a way he cannot explain. Her hair is a greyish-mauve colour and falls down her back in gentle waves. He is transfixed, her beauty is otherworldly. _Who is she_?

He was so entranced, he never saw the sharp piece of glass and he, inevitably, stepped on it. He ends up howling in pain, which results in his mystery woman finding him crouching not too far from the club’s entrance.

When she realises it is a cat of all things, she walks over to him and he wants to run, but it hurts and he notes she has grey eyes. And her eyes are kind and warm as she reaches for him, cooing, “Oh you poor thing. Are you hurt?”

He would like to shrink back, try to attack her as feline conventions state, but he doesn’t. Her gentle gaze sends his little heart throbbing. He pathetically meows and lets her hold him by his neck. She notices his bloody paw and frowns. “Goodness, that is nasty. You wait right here, okay? I will take you home. Just let me drop this at the club, and I will be back!”

She gently puts him down and pats his head. Her eyes implore, telling him to be a good boy and stay. She doesn’t know yet, but he isn’t going anywhere. He wants to know more about this angel in the dark alley.

He sits down on the curb opposite the club and watches her leave with a kind smile at him. He softly meows and that delights her as she chuckles. His heart goes into overdrive at the sound. He swishes his tail as she stands in front of the door to the club and gives the password.

But then he wonders. He didn’t smell anything different on her, which told him she must be a human. But if humans aren’t allowed in the club, how does she know the password?

 

Kim Jongin used to wonder if he was the only one in the world, only one of his kind. Luhan once explained to him that genetic mutations are rare, but they happen and he may not be alone. For instance, Luhan could move things with his mind, or even change matter if he wishes to; and like him is a customer called Kim Namjoon. However, Jongin hadn’t met anyone who could do what he does. Then he went to college and met Bae Joohyun, a mutant like him. The woman a year older than him had the power of teleportation and melting into shadows just like him. He was ecstatic when he met her, and after sweetly asking Junmyeon (who doesn’t know how to say no to him), he was allowed to bring his friend to the club.  

But Joohyun was not a party animal, or a heavy drinker. She usually came to hand off study notes to Jongin, or help him with homework, or simply hang out with him and his adopted family if she got too bored. Still, she was a friend and Jongin appreciated all her help.

Tonight, he needed some notes on the last lecture he attended, and fell asleep in. He was waiting by the gate, chatting with Zitao when the bell chimed. Joohyun gives the password and enters, all smiles. Jongin takes the stack of papers, internally grimacing at the size, and smiles. Joohyun smiles back and says, “Jongin, I am sorry, I will have to go.”

Jongin frowns, “You just came here!”

“I know, I know. But there is something I have to do and I can’t be late, so…” Joohyun pouts and Jongin sighs.

“Fine noona, see you later?”

“Yes! I will take you out for lunch like I promised!”

Joohyun quickly gives Jongin a hug and leaves. Zitao watches her go and turns towards Jongin. He smirks, “She seems nice.”

Jongin narrows his eyes and swats at the timekeeper’s arm. “She is, but she is also not my type.”

“Yeah, ancient and difficult wind spirits are your type,” Zitao scoffs.

Jongin smirks, “So is yours.”

Before Zitao can manage a retort, Jongin runs away. Zitao shakes his head, and then to his dismay, the source of all his anguish saunters up to him and says, “Being in the same space with Seungyoon and Sandara is an ordeal. There is so much sexual tension, it is actually suffocating.”

“Sehun,” Zitao rolls his eyes. “They like each other.”

“Yeah, sure. Sandara likes his blood and Seungyoon likes getting bitten. How is that equal to liking each other?”

Zitao simply blinks at Sehun as his heart races. When Sehun says such things, Zitao ends up questioning why he even liked him in the first place.

 

Joohyun, to be honest, wasn’t hoping for the injured stray cat to stay. So, she is surprised, but not unpleasantly, when she finds the grey cat waiting for her on the opposite curb licking his bleeding paw. She doesn’t mind helping those in need, and if it is an animal in need, then she doesn’t know how to say no or stay away.

She grins as she gently picks the cat up and tucks him (or her? She hasn’t checked) under her arms as she pats his head and coos, “There, there. We will patch you right up. I am going to be a vet you know.” When the cat gently purrs, as if understanding her, Joohyun chuckles in delight. “You are adorable!”

She looks around in the dark lane, and when she finds no one around, she closes her eyes and brings the image of the inside of her apartment in her head. When the image has solidified, she takes a deep breath and puts her other hand on top of the cat’s head. She has teleported with animals before (she has a terrible habit of picking up strays when they injure themselves and then nurse them back to health), so she knows they get a little uncomfortable when taken from one place to another like that. But she has found blocking their sight and sound greatly helps.

When she opens her eyes again, she is greeted by the blue poppies on her wallpaper in her bedroom rather than the dark, smelly alley. As expected, the cat meows loudly and thrashes in her arms. She puts him down and the poor animal trips before finding his feet and swaying a little. She gets on her knees and drags her teeth over her lips. “Sorry, I know teleportation is hard for you fellas. But you will be okay, I promise!”

The cat falls to his side and blinks at her, as if he understands what she is saying. It is a bit strange, but Joohyun supposes the stray is a highly intelligent feline being. As she takes a better look at him under the light, she thinks the cat looks very groomed for a stray. His grey coat is full and thick, with a little shine and he is actually quite clean—save for the smidgen of dirt along its side. He looks a bit too healthy to be a starving kitty on the street, even his bright green eyes are bright and alert.

She braves coming closer and even reaches out wither hands. When the cat doesn’t look like he will bite her hand, she rubs his side. “You are very pretty. I am thinking you must have ran from your home and the streets are new to you. I don’t know if you want to, but you can stay with me.” She chuckles when she sees his ears perk up. “No pressure. I am sure you are an independent kitty who needs no human! Or mutant!”

She picks the cat up and walks to the bathroom where she keeps the first aid kit for both humans and animals. She carefully cleans his wounds and every time he hisses, she finds scratching him behind his ear works like magic to calm him. She ties gauze around the wound and puts him down. She says, “I bet you are hungry. Let me see what I can do.”

She goes over to her neighbour, who is in her sixties and has five cats living with her. She borrows a can of cat food and in exchange, she promises to cat-sit for her again. Again, she half-expects for the cat to be gone (she has a fire exit by the window, which she always keeps open before going to bed). But he isn’t, instead he is sitting atop the couch’s headrest, swishing his fluffy tail.

She grins and goes about setting him up with a bowl of premium cat food. The cat sniffs the offering with suspicion. She laughs, “Oh, come on. I didn’t poison it!”

The cat takes a tentative swipe and when he finds it to his liking, he starts eating in earnest. She takes to watching him and sometimes petting the fluffy tail. When he is halfway done with the bowl, she prepares a bowl of water for him. He laps that up quickly and yawns. To her complete surprise, he inches closer and curls up into her lap.

She pets him and says, “I guess you want to stay huh? Okay, let’s give you a bath first. I think I have some cat shampoo from the last time I cat-sat for Mrs Choi.”

She expected biting and scratching during her bath time, but to her utter surprise, the cat ends up enjoying the bath she gives him in the basin. He purrs in delight when she scratches the right places. She laughs at his blissed-out face, “You are a strange, strange little kitty!”

As she is pouring water over his back, right where his tail meets his butt, she notices a strange V-shaped mark in white there. She says, “V?” When the cat turns his head to look at her, she raises her eyebrows, “V? Is that your name? Is that what your previous owner called you? Well, I will call you that then as well!”

She wraps him up in a towel and rubs him down. She plugs her blow dryer and chuckles at the whines when the heated air hits him. And then she laughs some more when he starts enjoying the warm air on his belly. She picks up him and raises him in the air to look at him. He peers down at her with his emerald eyes, as if he is deeply regarding her just like she is regarding him. She says, “I don’t believe in love at first sight, but I might be a little in love with you V. I have never met such a well-behaved and precious cat like you. I hope you decide to stay.” She pulls him closer and noses his head. She hears his low meow and his nose nudging against her chin.

She has no qualms about putting animals on her bed. She is not allergic to pet dander, and she is a hundred per cent sure V is not carrying any diseases, so she puts him on her bed. She dashes in and out of her bathroom to change into her pyjamas. Then she curls up under the cover and V curls up on the extra pillow and slowly closes his eyes. She whispers, “Goodnight.”

 

Seulgi wakes up earlier than Chae-rin and realises her brother didn’t make it home last night. The three of them, and a few others, are currently living in a small house on the edge of Seoul. Seulgi walks outside, wondering where her brother went when the said man comes whistling down the small dirt path to the house. She crosses her arms and is about to launch into a tirade when she notices a strip of bandage on his left hand. She rushes to him and grabs his hand. She says, “Taehyung? What is this?”

Taehyung grins. “I stepped on some glass.”

“Stepped?” Seulgi blinks in confusion.

Taehyung cocks his head to the side and smiles, a dreamy expression on his face. “Noona, what are mutants?”

“What? Why are you asking me—no, scratch that, how did you get injured? Were you in your cat form?” Seulgi grabs Taehyung’s shoulder, “Why were you in your cat form?”

“I told him to go snoop around where Junmyeon is,”  a deep male voice speaks up behind Seulgi.

Seulgi turns around to find Wonshik standing on the porch, a scowl on his face, as if he is asking him to question his authority. Seulgi ducks her head and says, “Oh. But if someone had seen him…”

“He is careful,” Wonshik comes down from the porch and addresses Taehyung. “Did anyone see you?”

Taehyung shakes his head, “Nope.”

“Good. Get something to eat and then come tell me what you saw.”

Wonshik walks back to the house. Taehyung grins at his sister again, “Noona, can you give me some rice to eat? I had to eat cat food last night. Even though it wasn’t terrible, I still love human food more.”

Seulgi frowns and says nothing as Taehyung too walks into the house, whistling under his breath. She had no idea that Wonshik had sent Taehyung to spy on Junmyeon. What if Jongdae had seen Taehyung? She bites her lips as she thinks about the weather manipulator. The pang, ever-so-familiar, tugs at her heart and a part of her wants to run down to wherever he is, but the other part pulls her back when she remembers the last words he said to her.

_“Leave, and never show your face to me again. You are dead to me.”_

She shudders as she remembers his rage and his voice, and the pain and heartbreak on his face. She wants to see him so bad, but will he want to see her?

 

Joohyun is not surprised, yet still disappointed when she finds V gone the next morning. She wakes up and sits there, dejectedly, for some time, staring at the empty spot next to her on the bed. Then she wonders how did the cat make his escape. She gets down from the bed, remembering clearly that she had locked the big window by the fire escape. But when she reaches the window, she is surprised to see it partially open. Did she not close it last night? Her memory is a bit foggy, but she tries hard to recall.

She stands there by the window for some time, biting her lips and wondering. Her musings are cut short when her phone starts ringing. She goes back to her bedroom and finds that it is Jongin calling. She picks up the call, “Hello?”

“Hey, noona, quick question,” Jongin says. “Was the field trip today or tomorrow?”

Joohyun grits her teeth and rolls her eyes. Jongin is a brilliant student, but he is also lazy and forgetful. She sighs, “Today at twelve Jongin.”

“Oh! I better start getting ready then!”

Joohyun disconnects the call, and starts preparing for the day as well. Today on the schedule is a visit to an animal hospital. Both Jongin and Joohyun wish to become veterinarians, even though Joohyun had a late start in life. She is twenty-two, which makes her senior to Jongin in age, but she did lose a couple years of her life when her powers showed up at twelve and her parents freaked out, which led to her sent away to live with her grandparents in Gangwon-do.

As she picks up her outfit for the day—same old sweater and jeans—she briefly thinks about her parents. It is not like they hate her, or she hates them. They got afraid and came to bring her back after they realised their folly after a year. But by then the damage had been done, and Joohyun could no longer look at her father and mother the same. However, that is all in the past. She spent the next year trying to control her powers. She re-joined school only after she deemed herself ready. She is still trying to fix things with her parents though, and she did spend a good enough weekend with her mother last week.

Joohyun’s day gets hectic. Jongin manages to get lost twice in a span of five hours in the hospital (he got distracted by a bunch of new-born huskies and the second time by an older Siamese). As they are headed back to their class, Jongin asks, “I was thinking, care for some food after we leave?”

Joohyun shrugs, “Sure. You pay though, because you made me so worried when I couldn’t find you as we were boarding the bus!”

Jongin grins, “Yes ma’am!”

Joohyun simply grins and as soon as their professor dismisses them, the two of them head to a sandwich shop. When they have finished eating, Jongin asks her to come hang out with him at the club. Joohyun asks, “Why?”

“You know that water spirit you liked?” Jongin smirks.

Joohyun blushes, “What about him?”

“He may come to visit Junmyeon-hyung today,” Jongin wiggles his eyebrows. Joohyun tries to slap him, the idiot ducks, smirk still glued to his handsome face.

“Fine,” Joohyun groans. “I was itching for some alcohol anyway.”

With that said, the two mutants head back to the club. It was a fall evening, thus the darkness has started to slowly descend, even though it isn’t even five yet. It is twilight, and Joohyun really likes this time of the day. She is humming a song under her breath as she follows Jongin on foot. The club isn’t too far from the bus stop that they got down at.

They near the club and Joohyun cries, “You!”

Jongin gets startled and turns around to find Joohyun pointing her fingers at a grey cat crouching in the alley by the backdoor to the club. To his surprise, Joohyun grabs the cat and scolds him, “What are you doing back here?”

Jongin comes to stand beside her and takes a close look at the stray. “You know him?”

“Yes! I took him home last night and he ran away the next morning!”

“You took a cat home?” Jongin chuckles. “You should be taking men home noona. Have you no sex life?”

Joohyun glares at Jongin, and then smiles when the cat hisses at Jongin when he tries to touch him. She smugly says, “He doesn’t like you.”

“Whatever,” Jongin frowns, feeling rejected (he doesn’t like it when animals reject him). “If you are done with your cat, then please do come inside.”

Joohyun sticks out her tongue at him. Jongin laughs as he heads inside. She cradles the feline in her arms and scratches V behind his ear. “Why did you leave? I thought we liked each other…”

The cat looks up at her with his mesmerising emerald eyes, and Joohyun cannot help but coo at him. She bops his nose, and V scrunches his little face, and she dies a little from all the cuteness.

“Taehyung!”

Joohyun was standing right in front of the backdoor, petting V when she looks up to find Jongdae glaring down at the cat in her arms. She asks, “Jongdae-oppa?”

“What are you doing here?” he asks, and he sounds angry. Joohyun opens her mouth to talk, but then she realises he is not even looking at her. He is glaring at V.

Then, to her complete surprise, V jumps down from her lap and what happens next has her jaw dropping to the ground. The lithe, grey body of the cat elongates vertically, the bones stretching with a popping sound and the muscles undulate violently under the skin. The limbs transform to hands and feet; and the grey coat is replaced by smooth russet skin. The figure straightens up, and it is tall and its shoulders are broad. Then like an enchantment, a fog of black covers the figure and when the fog lifts, the figure, no, _the man_ , is wearing black shirt and black trousers.

“Hello hyung,” a deep voice says. Joohyun shrinks back with her back pressing the wall as she looks on dumbfounded. Then the man turns his head, and she is transfixed momentarily by his beauty and his green eyes. He smiles and she gulps. “Please, stay.”

Joohyun could have ran, but the curious part of her has her awestruck and eager to understand. She watches as Jongdae closes the distance between him and V, or Taehyung. Jongdae grabs Taehyung’s collar and says, his voice dark and tight, “What are you doing here?” A vicious stream of wind rips through the small alleyway, making a huge mess of Joohyun’s mauve hair.

Taehyung says, and Joohyun notes how deep and smooth it is, “I came to see how everyone is.”

Jongdae’s nostril flares as he collects himself. He lets go of Taehyung’s collar; he still keeps glaring at Taehyung though. Taehyung grabs Jongdae’s wrist and says, “Noona misses you.”

Jongdae’s eyes widen. He pulls his wrist out of Taehyung’s grip and falters. He doesn’t say anything else as he runs back inside. The backdoor closes with a loud bang, which seems to break whatever magic Joohyun had slipped under. She shouts, “Who the fuck are you?”

Taehyung turns around and he smiles again. Joohyun slips down the wall and clutches her knees. V is not a cat, but he is, but he is also a human. Wait, no, he is a werecat. She has met Taekwoon once. She looks up at him through her lashes, her heart pounding like crazy, “Y-you are a werecat.”

Taehyung crouches in front of him, and even though Joohyun is panicking, her stupid brain supplies with a soft whisper of _he is so handsome_ as she stares at his face, trying to correlate the feline cuteness with the hard planes she is seeing right now. Taehyung smiles, “My name is Taehyung and yes, I am a werecat.”

“Oh,” Joohyun nods and swallows.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me.” He runs his hands though his greyish brown hair. “I actually came to see hyung, but then you found me. Oh! Thank you for taking care of me though!” He grins at her, and it is so charming and beguiling, that Joohyun finds herself nodding.

She says, “You are welcome.”

Without really realising, her hand reaches up to touch his hair, which she finds to be very soft and nice. His amused chuckle has her returning to her senses and she takes back her hand quickly, and furiously blushes. Her embarrassment deepens when she hears him mutter, “So cute.”

She hides her red face in her hands and whines, “I can’t believe you were a werecat all this while!” And suddenly she remembers all the silly things she told him last night. Mortification settles in her gut like a dead weight, and she prays the ground to swallow her whole.

Taehyung chuckles some more and grabs her hands. He tugs them away and says, “Ah, I am really grateful for your kindness that day. And don’t hide you face!”

Joohyun blinks. “What.”

“You are very beautiful,” he bites his lip and becomes all shy as he turns his gaze away.

Joohyun’s eyes widen and she hyperventilates a little. She coughs, “You…y-you are cute…a-as a cat.”

Taehyung chuckles and stands up. He puts his hand, palm up, in front of her and says, “Come on!”

Joohyun tilts her head to the side in confusion, but takes the hand anyway. He pulls her to her feet and she asks, “Go where?”

“It’s only fair I give you a treat as a thank you. How about coffee? I think I have some change in these pants. I mean coffee is an acceptable way to ask pretty girls out on a date in this century, right?”

He rambles on as he searches his pants for money, not noticing the way Joohyun’s is staring at him, with her eyes wide and face flushed. She bites her lip and tries to breathe. As she looks at the handsome werecat beside her in the dusk, she cannot believe the strange turn her life took right now. She meekly says, “In this century? How old are you?”

Taehyung grins, and Joohyun notices it is kind of rectangular, and _utterly endearing_ (as concluded by the way her heart is reacting to it). He says, “If you say yes, I will tell you! And oh, please tell me about mutants too! I am not too familiar with them.”

Joohyun finds herself smiling, and she doesn’t disagree to the way he laces his long fingers through hers. They walk out of the alley and they only have eyes for each other.

(Joohyun doesn’t forget to text Jongin that she chooses coffee over alcohol for today)

 

Jongdae runs inside, his head pounding. The sudden appearance of Taehyung had really thrown him out of the loop. He did wonder if the return of Wonshik meant the return of Seulgi, and his assumption proved to be correct. He knew, deep down he knew, but he refused to believe in it.

In his haste, he crashes into someone and loses his balance. He falls on his bottom, and winces at the pain. He finds the person he crashed into (sprawled on the ground like him) to be Kyungsoo. The earth spirit blinks and grimaces, “What the fuck Jongdae, do you have a train to catch?”

Jongdae sits up and exhales, “I just met Taehyung outside.”

Kyungsoo had been there, on Junmyeon’s side a hundred years ago, so he knows the ramifications of the words Jongdae just said. He gasps, “What?”

“Kyungsoo,” Jongdae’s lower lips wobbles as he whispers. “She is here as well.”

Kyungsoo knows who the “she” Jongdae is referring to. He says nothing as he presses his hand on the weather guardian’s shoulder and looks on with concern.

He watches Jongdae’s emotions churning in his eyes and he wonders how Junmyeon will react if he gets to know the shifters are closer than they think.

**Author's Note:**

> work title taken from 'Touched by An Angel' by Stevie Nicks


End file.
